a town of Wiltshire in England, situated near the source of the Kennet, at the foot of a chalky hill, 75 miles from London. It has its name from the chalky soil, which was formerly called marl. It was a Roman station. In the year 1627 a parliament was held in the castle here, which made those laws called Marlborough statutes. There are still some small remains of its walls and ditch. The town, which is an ancient borough by prescription, sends two members to parliament. It contained, in 1821, 2367 inhabitants; and is governed by a mayor, two justices, twelve aldermen, &c. It consists chiefly of one broad street, with piazzas all along one side of it, two parish churches, and several commodious inns, it being the grand thoroughfare from London to Bath and Bristol. To the south are some relics of a priory, particularly the Gatehouse; and the site of a Roman castrum, the foundations of which have been discovered there, with Roman coins. The ditch is still in some parts 20 feet wide; and towards the river, without the garden walls, one angle of the castrum is very visible with the rampart and ditch entire. The mount at the west end of the town, which was the keep or main guard of the castle, is converted into a pretty spiral walk; at the top of which is an octagon summer house. This town has often suffered by fire, particularly in 1690, whereupon the parliament passed an act to prevent its houses from being thatched.

Duke of. See Churchill.

MARLBOROUGH-Fort, an English factory on the west coast of the island of Sumatra in Asia; seated three miles west of the town of Bencoolen. E. Long. 101. 12. S. Lat. 4. 21.